Roman

Writer's Block: B.Y.O.B. Holidays

B.Y.O.B. Holidays
What is your must-see holiday movie? One random answer will win a $50 Amazon gift card. [Details here]
Reply 956


Muppet Family Christmas. It's a TV special from 1987 that I've been watching literally as long as I can remember. We used to have a taped version from a re-airing in, like, 1990, and I can still remember all the old commercials that went along with it. And it's brilliant. All the Muppets congregate at Fozzie's mom's house for Christmas -- and I mean all the Muppets. It's the only time the original Muppets, the Fraggles, the Sesame Street gang, and the Muppet babies (via a home movie flashback) have all been in the same show. A blizzard descends, Miss Piggy gets lost in the snowstorm, Swedish Chef tries to cook Big Bird, and all kinds of other insanity ensues. It has great jokes and great music and is pretty much flawless. And then Jim Henson himself shows up for a cameo at the end, which always makes me cry.

Roman

Writer's Block: B.Y.O.B. Holidays

B.Y.O.B. Holidays
Which December holidays do you celebrate, and why? One random answer will win a $50 Amazon gift card. [Details here]
Reply 636
My religious holiday is the Winter Solstice; I celebrate Christmas socially.

Solstice is a time for personal reflection and renewal. New year, the sun's coming back, time to try and make the most of it. I take the time to speak to my gods, to ask that they look on me with favour. I mean, I do this a lot during the year as well -- getting more pious in my old age -- but the winter solstice is really when I take a deep breath, take a step back, and take stock of my life. Where have I gotten in the last year, and has it brought me closer to or farther away from the version of me that I want to be? And since I was about eleven, it's been my time to get together with my other family -- the ones who are no blood relation, but who are the family of my soul. It's been harder the last few years -- we're all busy adults now, and if the Solstice proper falls mid-week, well, that kind of screws things up. We live farther apart now, and sometimes it's the only time in a year I see a couple of them. But, dammit, we're family. And that means we find a way to be together at this time of year.

Christmas I celebrate with my blood family, who are only nominally Christian themselves. It's totally secular for us anymore. Mom used to drag us to the candlelight service, but we haven't done that in a few years. It's about being together, having a good meal, exchanging gifts, usually seeing a movie together Christmas evening -- just time to reconnect, really. And that's nice.

(And yes, I may be doing these all week, because I salivate at the idea of Amazon gift cards).